Grateful for a very fun week in the LA area training with Crafty and having fun with the family. Also grateful that nothing essential was packed in our check-in luggage, which still hasn't caught up with us.

Once upon a time there was a man who worked very hard just to keep food on the table for his family.

This particular year a few days before Christmas he punished his little five-year old daughter after learning that she had used up the family’s only roll of expensive gold wrapping paper.

As money was tight, he became even more upset when on Christmas Eve he saw that the child had used all the expensive gold paper to decorate one shoebox she had put under the Christmas tree. He also was concerned about where she had gotten the money to buy what was in the shoebox.

Nevertheless, the next morning the little girl, filled with excitement, brought the gift box to her father and said, “This is for you, Daddy!”As he opened the box, the father was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, now regretting how he had punished her.

But when he opened the shoebox, he found it was empty and again his anger flared. “Don’t you know, young lady,” he said harshly, “when you give someone a present, there is supposed to be something inside the package!”

The little girl looked up at him with sad tears rolling from her eyes and whispered: “Daddy, it’s not empty. I blew kisses until it was full.”

The father was crushed. He fell on his knees and put his arms around his precious little girl. He begged her to forgive him for his unnecessary anger.An accident took the life of the child only a short time later. It is told that the father kept this little gold box by his bed for all the years of his life. Whenever he was discouraged or faced difficult problems, he would open the box, take out an imaginary kiss, and remember the love of this beautiful child who had put it there.

In a very real sense, each of us has been given an invisible golden box filled with unconditional love and kisses from our children, family, friends, and God. There is no more precious possession anyone could hold.

"A good stickgrappler has good stick skills, good grappling, and good stickgrappling and can keep track of all three simultaneously. This is a good trick and can be quite effective." - Marc "Crafty Dog" Denny

Woof Guide Dog: I love seeing you post again here! I will hope that your momentum continues.

I am grateful for the close of the busiest academic year of my career. I am grateful for the opportunities that the summer holds. I am grateful for the students who taught me much and who are graduating. And I am grateful for the time to pursue my art.

Nothing can hold you back—not your childhood, not the history of a lifetime, not even the very last moment before now. In a moment you can abandon your past. And once abandoned, you can redefine it.

If the past was a ring of futility, let it become a wheel of yearning that drives you forward. If the past was a brick wall, let it become a dam to unleash your power.The very first step of change is so powerful, the boundaries of time fall aside. In one bittersweet moment, the sting of the past is dissolved and its honey salvaged.

And grateful that you started it! As can be seen by the number of reads, this is one of our most popular threads and its meme has spread to the DBMA Ass'n fourm as well. Thank you for your post here this morning-- it reminds me to post here as well as on the thread on the Ass'n's forum.

Amongst many things, I am grateful for another beautiful day in LA. From the feel of the morning I would say that it looks like we are headed to another 80 degree day today.